According to data released by research firm Strategy Analytics, Microsoft has managed to obtain 7.5 percent of the tablet market with Windows 8 and Windows RT. Tablet shipping in general reached an all-time high of 40.6 million units in Q1 2013, a huge climb from 18.7 million reported in Q1 2012. Apple still dominates the market with 48 percent, but Android is close behind with 43 percent of the pie. So what's hindering Microsoft's advance?

Apple has had a strong, well-established hold in the tablet market. The first iPad really created and pushed the tablet form factor forward, as the middle ground between smartphones and the PC. Consumers began to want hardware that was larger and more capable than a mobile phone, but smaller and more compact than a laptop. Microsoft began its marathon stroll after Android saw countless products being released by multiple vendors.

This is why Windows RT was born, but is this not part of the issue? There have been numerous reports, not only from tech journalists but consumers too, detailing confusion between Windows 8 and Windows RT. The main difference between Windows RT and the full version of the operating system is the former runs on ARM chips, while the latter enables consumers to install software not downloaded from the Windows Store.

As well as the potential cause for confusion, Microsoft also has to tackle the whole apps issue again, now on two fronts (with Windows Phone still receiving negative comments about lack of big-brand apps). There was also the issue with Surface shortages, particularly when Microsoft released both versions. Everyone wanted one. But not all is doom and gloom, as is revealed in the following chart:

In 2012 Android was loaded on just 6.4 million tablets shipped, while Apple pulled off 11.8 million. Microsoft has jumped from nowhere to 3 million this year, which isn't bad going for the relatively shorter period of time. Microsoft's plans for the future? They should include marketing, apps, hardware and updates. The company needs to do exactly what it has to do for Windows Phone: pretty much anything and everything. Though there's progress, that's the main point here.

When the iPad first came out, what was considered the tablet market? There were other "tablets", but technically the market they were trying to penentrate was non existent. With that being said, when the iPad first came out, the market was "everyone in the world".
If you want to compare something, compare how many iOS tablets sold during the first 6 months to the number of Windows tablets that sold during the first 6 months. Then factor in the slight effects and differences in the lack of competition their was at that time to the strong competative market that exists today.

Given all of that, there are performing way above expectation. They are doing EXTREMELY well. They don't need to change things for better market penetration.
All they need is time.

Indeed, the bootom line is, its only a matter of time before Windows tablets have 70%+ market share, there is just no better alternative than a Win8 Pro tablet even one that has only an Atom cpu still can do a ton more than any iPad or Android ever could.

I don't think 7.5% from nothing is a baby step - it's a big step. This without fully baked products or the upcoming Intel chipsets. Haswell powered dockable tablets could be impressive - and Clover Trail is just the beginning of Intel SoC.

I'm nto as bullish an RT alone, though it will mature. But I ultimately think Intel will beat back ARM down the road. We'll see Metro front ends for real desktop apps that can run fairly well with touch down the line and the Metro native stuff will grow.

People tend to freak too eaily with the phone and tablet marketshares. These markets are not like the PC market. They have much less investment beyond the initial cost of the device. It's not like those that have spent hundreds on software, games, etc on the PC. I'd bet that most people spend less than $20 a year on phone apps. That could conceivably be a bit higher on tablets, but I doubt banks are being broken there. People are far less committed to mobile platforms than desktop platforms.

Microsoft's key here is their integration with your desktop, laptop, TV via Xbox, tablet, and phone. Syncing calendars, address books, etc and even seemlessly syncing Windows 8 apps across devices. MS has got a BIG strategy here. Give it time to grow. Android was nothing at the beginning. WP8 and Win8 Tabs will continue to grow while we see iOS and Android begin declines in marketshare.

This is not bad at all when you look at the tablets that are on the market and the price compared to the iPad mini and android tablets.

I also this if Microsoft had put the surface rt and pro in all shops like android and ipads are the number would be alto higher as none tech people would of seen them and they would of stood out to.

Also if HP, Dell ect can now start shipping lower cost windows 8 tablets I don't think it will be long until windows 8 takes Androids market and pushes its self into 2nd place.

Its been a good week for Microsoft with the news of the company growing again and also windows 8 selling better than a lot of doom and gloom that has been said about it I see Microsoft doing very well for them selfs over the next 5 to 10 years as this is the start of the new Microsoft eco system and its only going to grow over time.

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!! *Acer* The 510 is my first choice among the current W8 tablets, and a smaller, more affordable option with Clover Trail power would be amazing. Time to start saving my nickels...

Same here. Wish my Nexus 7 had RT in it.
Windows Phone, 7" Windows RT Tablet and a touch-enabled Windows 8 Laptop would be my perfect combination.
Depending on what I'm doing I'd have the right tool for the job with it all synchronizing data, apps and settings. How cool?

What is a tablet. Used to be a tablet had a keyboard and a slate was just a touch screen. Now those terms seem to be synonymous. But, is my wife's touch screen Ultrabook a tablet? What about one of those 20" Dell thingies? If those count, I bet W8 is doing a whole lot better than 7%.

If they do count, but MS is still only at 7%, then they are in a world of hurt.

Not bad at all specially considering that surface pro is only available in 3 countries and even rt is not as widely distributed as it could. I think by the end of the year Microsoft will be a major player in the tablet market

Not bad if you ask me, especially given the limited availability and high prices of existing Windows 8 and RT tablets (mostly starting at $499). Can't wait to see the effect 7-8 inch tablet-PCs will have, Microsoft may have a chance ot not only be a solid 3rd, but perhaps sit 2nd or tie for it.

It isn't about "cheap" but also perceived value. If I pay $500 for an iPad I have a tablet that is fully supported with tons of apps. When I buy a $500 RT I have some apps a nice browser, a version if office that isn't allowed to be used in a business unless i pay for licensing and a lot of wondering when more of the big name apps will show up...now it's not to say they won't eventually show up, but as long as they're not there the value of $500 seemingly goes further with iPad.

And compatibility with almost every printer, and access to the file system, and the ability to participate on a network properly, and expandable storage, and HDMI output without an expensive propeirtary dongle that scrambles the output stream into some strange h.264 format before the signaling gets right.

Then I look at all of the people that keep trying more and more expensive keyboard docks / covers on their iPads just to try to make them into what the surface already is. And Sufrace RT is much less than iPad + Accessories to make it half way productive.

Not bad, was expecting much worse. Blackberry for instance didn't get this share with much more time, and it's not even available in many important markets. I love my Surface RT, this week I did I bought the adapter to connect it to a projector and did an awesome PowerPoint presentation. Go Microsoft!

I think that as Windows 8 is more widely accepted so will the tablets be. The hardware of the tablets has been fantastic but the software makes some folks uncomfortable. Continue to work on the OS, market it well, and you'll sell the tablets. I have Windows 8 on all PCs, my laptop, have a Surface and a Lumia 920. I couldn't be happier with the integration which is what I think it all comes down to.

Yes, the OS is a winning design for the tablet market and the handhelds, but the desktop not so much. I've posted here before that I feel MSC rolled W8 out without a clear integration and migration path for the desktop users. It's giving bad press and hurting upgrades like it did when Vista had that ugly start. Fix that and I'll be happy.

I realize they ran out of time to develop a fully integrated solution for the legacy desktop world, but they still could have done better than what they did. If they didn't have a plan for a seemless integration of the two worlds, then just accept it and leave the desktop world untouched for now. Taking away the start button and menu system and forcing the desktop user to jump to the metro world for just a few tasks was/is a mistake. I think they realize it now and I hope they hurry up and devise a better solution for 8.1 OR bring back the startbutton, menu, and desktop bootup until you do.

Hopefully by now everyone understands the Stat Menu is gone and we can move on. If the button comes back in Blue it will just take you to the Start Screen. What is the problem with this? The only reason for the return of the Start Button is probably to react to some video of grandpa spending 10 minutes looking for the Start Screen.

I would suggest you look into working more efficiently with the new UI. Try pinning your main (top 10?) apps to the taskbar. If you work with documents, the jump lists are wonderful. Less used apps, maybe you want to put the shorcuts in a folder in My Docs and use that to create a toolbar of small icons for less frequently used apps (hide the labels). Everything else, Start Screen icons or just search... (keyboard with search button works great). One can argue 'but I shouldn't have to do all this' however I would argue that once you do its a better and more efficient way to work. I don't miss the Start Menu at all, but I also realize everyone works different and has different needs. But there is plenty of flexibility to customize to the way you work. One thing I think Microsoft missed out on is a way to easily zoom the Start Screen when using a mouse.
Starting with the Desktop? I know people ask for that, but how does it make any sense other than to bring us to what we're used to? The reality is that you have to launch an app to do anything, so rather than launching your desktop before you do anything just launch that first app (email?). Now you actually saved a step/click versus if you were brought straight to the desktop! <donning flame suite>

I agree the button isn't the issue. but there are loads of them. It's not me talking. it's a large community of users. We've discussed this on here many times. User's running multiple apps simultaneously and are multitasking in a business type environment don't need fully emersive large button UI. They need "windows" they can move around and show side by side. Even if they didn't, 99% of all the serious business apps are "windows" based not metro. Even Microsoft's own flagship products haven't been written for the new UI yet. It's just not ready to be used exclusively, not even close. Probably won't be the go-to landing site for several years to come. So why force users to go there?

When we went from DOS to Windows 95 (yes I remember that) at least the DOS users could run their programs inside windows on the new exciting Win95 desktop. The new UI was home base. This is not.

Also, as it's been pointed out, the "app list" on the new UI is lacking. It needs a few more things to make you productive in an environment for hundreds of apps. They're almost there. 8.1 will let us sort my most used. That's good. But they should let us pin our favorites like we could on the "old" menu. They should allow those automatic app groupings that display to be colapsed.

The work arounds you suggested are just that, "work arounds", and in itself proves there are flaws. The average user can't do that. They are not you. In fact, they are not anyone who frequents this site. That's part of the problem I have trying to discuss this issue on here. Many just don't get it.. It's a lack of perspective not because they are stupid. Everyone on here is young and high tech and engaged in new ideas. That's not the average person. That's not the average windows user.

I suspect in a year these menu things will be resolved but one thing that will be hard to resolve is the issue of windows. Windows isn't Windows anymore. There are no "windows". It's a huge productivity booster to be able to window multiple apps when you are running a 30" monitor doing design work, etc. I don't know how they can abandon that for the desktop user. They will need to add that ability in some fashion into the new UI if they want to retire the "desktop" for good some day for mouse driven, desktop based, big screen users.

i only read the first paragraph of this reply and that's all i needed to. The things business users do is still there, many of them improved. You can run all the same programs and perform all the same functions as you could in Win7. I don't understand the complaint.

That means you already think you know it all. That's a mistake. maybe you should have read the whole comment. A lot of people on here seem not to understand. I'm certain MSC understands and will be enhancing and further merging the two very different environments. Some of my customers are actually considering switching to Macs because of this. At least Apple realizes a tablet optimized OS is not best for a desktop

A smaller, cheaper version will help and apps, apps, apps, apps. The rest is just a matter of time. I get a lot of positive comments from people about my Surface but they are waiting to buy one to see if its going to have staying power. People are afraid of the HP WebOS tablet scenario where they buy into something only to see it abandoned.
They need to be dumping all the resources they can into getting good apps into the market - for Windows 8/RT and WP8.

The number sounds too good to be true. Whatever, congrats, MS. Even the number is not very accurate.
This is amazing:
1. In Q1, Surface RT and other WinRT tablets are probably not available in every markets.
2. People prefer 7-8" tablets to 10". This is why Amazon sells so well, and why Apple releases iPad Mini.
Assume there was no iPad mini, nor 7" android tablets in the world, iPad and 10" Android tablets would die.
Now Android and iOS tablets flee into 7"-8" range, which is threatened by 5"-6" phablets. Seriously, when large screen smartphones become cheaper and cheaper, who needs a 7"-8" tablets.

Who wants a 5"-6" 'phablet' in their pocket? My opinion if that device profiles continue to proliferate allowing variety to suit every individuals preference. Rather than dying, the lines of what is a "pc" blurs... I mean really, how is a smart phone or tablet NOT a personal computer?

Surprised the tone of the article is so negative, almost thought I was on The Verge for a second there...

Going from 0% to 7.5% of any market of this size in six months is pretty great news and Microsoft should be proud, especially considering that even in the UK it was incredible difficult to get hold of any of the new devices until January/February.

As availability increases, and more form factors (especially cheaper $300 Atom tablets and $200 7/8" models) appear going through 2013, along with Blue and the steady increase in apps available I'm sure Microsoft will be fine.

Windows 8 got off to a rough start, no doubt, but they're gruadually finding their feet and this is very good news!

I think the trick to MS dominating the tablet market is to get to sub $300 Atom tablets running full Windows 8. WinRT should be viewed as a future goal, not a current startegy. The real selling point of "Windows" is that you can run all your old programs. So get people hooked on W8 tablets first, then try to push WinRT harder. Thats exactly how the Surface launch should have gone. Release Surface Pro first as a true no-compromise tablet, then release RT later is a lighter wieght and cheaper alternative. By doing it the other way around, the word "comrpomise" became baked into the Surface label. "Yeah its 'Windows', but ..."

Love my Surface RT. It's slick, smooth, and lasts 2 days without a charge. I connect it to the Lumia 920 wireless hotspot and it goes with me everywhere. My laptop has been glued to the desk since purchasing the RT. Easily mapped my skydrive to the device for more storage, and setup remote desktop just in case I need a file or program from the laptop at home. It's an amazing device, just please keep the new apps coming.

This is a big achievement seeing as how little availability there has been, especially in the UK. Once all the OEM's have more and cheaper and smaller tablets out, its gonna skyrocket. Especially after 8.1 update.

I love the thought of RT, but I don't like it if you have to create a whole new eco-system for it. It makes zero sense. It would make sense if it was compatible with the WP store? It's just too confusing and too demanding to expect a developer to create for three different stores ( WP, RT, and W8). Bad strategy.

They don't. The WinRT framework runs on top of Windows 8, so a dev only has to target that and they have an app for both Windows 8 and Windows RT.
and with some very slight modification, it will work on Windows Phone as well.

I think the blue update is planned to deliver some of this consolidation of apps across the eco-system. Everything up to this point was the get the products out. Going forward WP8, W8/RT, and Xbox 720 will continue to consolidate. Xbox 720 will likely release with the blue update as well.

i realy dont understand people keep bringing up the price, the ipad is still $100 more with less space. but then peopel will say apple has more apps ofcourse it will its been out for years where the Surface just a couple of months. i once compared surface rt with keyboard to an ipad price, $5600 for surface rt 32gb, ipad $500 16gb no keyboard. common sense shoudl say why spen $500 on 16gb when i can spend $500 32gb but ofcourse the argument will switch to apps. like i said earlier people compare years to months, no one is asking apple to lower their prices, ipad 2 is still $400. which tablets has MS Office, usb, 64gb expansion slot, hd video output. eveyone knows the apps will come expiecially what MS is doing with the blue update, time will tell

Just got out of a meeting with some Microsoft reps (pretty high up the food chain). They told me the new keyboard will have additional battery.
I asked about a potential docking station and they didn't know anything about that... But they were "matter of fact" and "soon" when it came to a new keyboard with battery built in (that feeds the tablet). I could definitely use that on my Pro.

Also, I was listening to a gaming podcast the other day and one of the guys mentioned he was gonna get a Surface, and everybody else was really down on the idea. Then he revealed that he meant a Surface Pro and everyone was like, "oooooh okay that's fine."

Are people this stupid? RT doesn't support legacy programs, just like ipad dooesn't support osx programs. There, the confusion has been resolved. RT is a hard sell because there are not enough metro apps yet. This was the same situation with android. They didn't sell well because there was not enough tablet optimized apps and they cost too much. The oems really need to release cheap RT tablets so that consumers can ignore the lack of apps and go with the value proposition. Once you have a bigger chunk of the market, the developers come in. Then you can start sell premium tablets. This worked for android with phones and now it's starting to work with tablets. I don't know what the oems and Microsoft are doing. THey seem to have forgotten how they came to dominate the PC market. It was the same thing. Sell computers for a lower price. Sell millions of computers. The software developers go to were the customers are. Now you dominate the market.

Sorry, your comparison doesn't really work. Apple never marketed the iPad as running any kind of version of osx. It's pretty obvious that its just a really big version of ios, not confusing to people at all. Plus a large portion of iPad customers don't even know what osx is.

Right. Which is what the RT should've been. Take WP8 and put it on a freaking tablet. Why is this so hard? Then Surface pro runs full blown windows. Then you wouldn't have the confusion with apps and everything else.

Glad I decided to go RT instead of Pro. If I was in the market for a full-fledged laptop maybe pro, but I already have a full-fledged laptop at home, and when I do upgrade the laptop I'll probably opt for something with a larger screen and form.
The RT does 80-90% of what I need, but as a companion device it's 100% perfect for me, light and portable with an outstanding battery.

I think there would be 100% less confusion if RT tablets weren't priced exactly the same (if not higher) than many of the pro tablets with atom. There is no reason surface RT couldn't be $350 with the touch cover. Currently Apple has the expensive ($400+) market cornered and android is dominating the smaller cheaper tablet market. Microsoft is competing with Apple only, and it is doing so with two separate products.

But I still think we need RT to stick around to push devices into lower price points, and to continue to push intel to improve their atom chips.
With the introduction of smaller windows 8 tablets I see the market share growing a low more. They will be able to compete for every customer instead of just a portion of them. A cheap 7-8" RT tablet would be a far nicer experience than the android equivalents, and there is really minimal need to be able to run desktop apps on a 7-8" screen, its just awkward. Add to that the fact the app store is growing nicely and there isnt much need for desktop apps on these devices. These small tablets should be focussed on getting a good touch experience for a very small cost.

I ended up getting an RT tablet because there is no desktop app I can think of that I'll miss on a tablet. I think eventually the two versions of windows need to merge, allowing desktop apps to be compiled for and run on the RT desktop. There is no reason not to support ARM processors, it is a rapidly growing market with lots of competition, which means it will likely produce some impressive innovations.

I think this is great news. Considering the success of the nexus 7 for Windows Tablets to jump up to half of android marketshare with 1st gen devices is impressive. Not sure why the article is so down.

I'm frankly surprised by how high that is given the short time frame they've been on the market, awkward pro rollout and lack of international sales. This seems like pretty good news to me. RT and Pro are much better than the competition, we have a Surface Pro and ipad and the surface is much more than twice the device. I really hope the return of a start button in whatever form it takes doesn't slow down metro app development because that is one area that lags behind pretty clearly on an otherwise all around better experience.

The start menu (if they add it) will be a stop gap measure until the new UI matures and offers all the functionality of the old. I don't think it will slow down anything. No reason for people to be so threatened by the idea. This isn't a perfect process. It's like baking a cake. It's messy. Whatever it takes to get the job done and make customers happy is what they should do while focusing R&D to build off this "good start" to a new UI.

I had a Surface RT but it couldnt satisfy my needs. There were not enough apps and even then I missed "Legend" apps. So I returned my RT and bought Asus Windows 8 laptop (Really sorry but I cant remember the model) however its only 21mm thick and weights just 1,7 kilograms for me its the perfect device. It is a laptop but erases my need for a tablet

7" tabets, theyre thepopular choice. Surface isoutselling Nxus 10 while nexus 7 is doing very wel. Even the ipad mini is much more popular than the regular model. MS needs 7" models and theyll gain marketshare quickly.

As a huge Windows Phone 8 and Windows fan, I see no reason to purchase a Windows branded tablet. Can I use my Windows Phone apps on it? Nope. If I had an Android tablet could I use the apps from my old phone, sure thing. Ipad, the IOS apps from my work phone? Absolutely. Do either operating systems have a better ecosystem than Window 8? No, but from a tablet perspective, YES. Microsoft definately has a fragmentation problem. One I believe could be mitigated by merging WP8 and W8 RT. I'll keep supporting Windows on my phone and desktop, but see no motivation from a tablet point of view.

Yes. It's a problem. MSC obviiously knows it but they better move faster to migrate the different platforms. That's obviously their intent or they wouldn't have forced the touch optimized new UI on the desktop users. So now finish the job Microsoft and get these platorms seemless, and do it at Google speed not Apple speed

Very good for such crazy prices...
Once they release Blue and drop tablets prices and sizes it will sell much more because lets be realistic, im not paying 600e for one Tablet, once i can get a Surface for 200e, im buying it. i dont care if its 7 inches or 8.

Still cracks me up how anyone who operates in the business world can see the Surface RT and the Surface Pro as anything but excellent values for the price. I get asked about my Surface Pro by clients and strangers every single day and when I tell them the price, the initial reaction is "Wow, that's more than an iPad". I respond, "Yes, that's because it's MORE than an iPad". After we are done discussing it, I've typically shown them that what they thought was an Apple-to-Apple Comparison was actually an Apple-to-Orange comparison. The light bulb comes on when they say "So, that would replace my iPad and my laptop and I only have to carry that?". Then I say"Correct, and you can leave all of the Apple proprietary adapters at home because the Surface Power brick can charge your Phone at the same time as it charges the Surface"... I often hear this: "Where can I get one? I'm going to give my iPad to my kids."

If this scenario plays out for other Surface users as it has for me and if those users can help break down the ridiculous myth that Windows 8 is "Vista", I see great market share ahead!

I don't think there should be any celebratory champagne yet. This isn't much different than the WP7 release. It made a blip but then sputtered a bit and just kept treading water. And its even more misleading since the bajillion commercials and the hybrid Windows 8 tablet/computers are also counted. What happens once the commercials stop? Windows 8 itself has an uncertain future. Microsoft is repeating what they did with WP7, releasing the first few months of sales during holiday season but have been tight-lipped ever sense, even in their last quartery report. This can be an indcation of waning sales since the highs of the holiday season and its fresh launch.